An intriguing event is coming up in Ellis Library! It's called "Life and Letters in the Ancient Mediterranean" and is being presented by the departments of Classical Studies, Art History and Archaeology, Special Collections, the Missouri Historic Costume and Textile Collection, and Gamal Castile.  See actual artifacts of everyday life in Ancient Greece, the first books by Classical poets printed on this side of the Atlantic, a 3000 year old fragment of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, authentic reproductions of Ancient Greek hoplite weapons and armor along with a demonstration of Ancient Greek warfare tactics.

Please join us for a multi-department celebration of Ancient Mediterranean Life and Letters 5 p.m. Monday, October 10 at room 114A Ellis Library. Special Collections Librarian Tim Perry will introduce the range of materials relating to the ancient Mediterranean that are housed in Ellis Library's Special Collections, from a 3,000 year old fragment of The Book of the Dead to an translation of Cicero printed by Benjamin Franklin. The event will be a riveting and valuable source of information. Any and all are welcome. We hope to see everyone in Ellis Library room 114A on October 10, 2016.

June 18, 1:30 p.m.
The State Historical Society of Missouri’s Research Center-Columbia

Missouri artists George Caleb Bingham and Thomas Hart Benton had politics in their blood. Bingham was an active Whig who served in the Missouri state legislature, while Benton, named after one of Missouri's first senators, was the son of a Missouri congressman. Both men drew artistic inspiration from Missouri politics, creating images that contained political messages and commentaries on contemporary issues. At this curator's walk-through, SHSMO's Joan Stack will share the stories behind works such as Bingham's Watching the Cargo and Election series, and Benton's lithographs including Mr. President, a portrait of Harry Truman. Picturing Politics, which runs through July 2016, is currently on display in the main gallery of the Research Center–Columbia.

The Award for Academic Distinction cermeony will be held in the Grand Reading Room at 4pm on April 24, 2016.

Visit Ellis Library after the Homecoming Parade from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 10 for refreshments, tours and family activities. The first 100 kids will receive a free mini pumpkin. This event is free and open to the public.

Audubon’s Paper Menageries: Birds and Quadrupeds Walk-Through
August 29, 2015    1:30 p.m.
The State Historical Society of Missouri’s Research Center–Columbia

Join the State Historical Society of Missouri’s art curator Joan Stack at this free event to discover the stories behind the wildlife pictured in the SHSMO’s current exhibition, Audubon’s Paper Menageries: Birds and Quadrupeds. Over twenty original hand-colored engravings and lithographs from the 1820s through the 1860s showcase John James Audubon’s imaginative and engaging illustrations for his impressive multivolume works, The Birds of America and The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. Experience the wonder nineteenth-century audiences must have felt as life-size birds seem to flutter from the pictures and wild creatures glower and hiss at their human observers.

Oral History @ Your Library: A Beginner’s Guide
August 31, 2015
12:00 p.m.
American Library Association Webinar

This free webinar offered by the American Library Association will provide an introduction to the ways in which libraries can use oral history for everything from collection development and programming to community engagement. Presenters Mary A. Larson, associate dean for special collections at the Oklahoma State University Library, and the State Historical Society of Missouri’s oral historian Jeff D. Corrigan will begin with the basics and offer programming ideas for all ages, information about related technology (what type of equipment to use in which circumstances), and a wide range of resources for those who would like to follow up on the topic. At the end of the webinar, participants should have a better idea of how they might be able to utilize oral history in their libraries, and they will have a basic sense of what steps they would need to take to implement that vision. Details available at http://www.ala.org/onlinelearning/oral-history-your-library-beginner%E2%80%99s-guide.

July 18, 2015
2:00 p.m.
Research Center–Columbia

Join two authors with Missouri roots for readings from their latest projects, followed by a discussion on writing with topics ranging from choosing historical fiction to literary license and historical accuracy. Steve Wiegenstein will read highlights from This Old World, which was recently announced as a finalist for the M. M. Bennetts Award for Historical Fiction. Set in the utopian town of Daybreak, the novel depicts a troubled community deeply changed by the American Civil War. As the characters write the next chapter of their story, the men and women struggle with leadership, lust, and their own flawed humanity. Steve Yates also explores the aftermath of the Civil War in The Teeth of the Souls, which tells the double life and love story of Leighton Shea Morkan. Leighton's affection for his childhood confidante and former slave, Judith, endures despite his marriage to another woman. A sequel to Morkan's Quarry, the novel follows Springfield through a triple lynching on Easter 1906.

Please join MUII and the MU Student Chapter of ASIS&T for a talk given by Dr. Tiffany Veinot (University of Michigan)·  

• When: Monday April 27, 12:00-1:00
• Where: Memorial Union N222/223 
• Talk Title: How “Community” Matters for Health Informatics: Conceptualizing Informatics Interventions for Health Disparity Populations

This event is free and open to the public; brought to you in part by student activity fees.

Abstract:
What would health information technologies look like if we placed the experiences and needs of marginalized groups at the center of their design and implementation? This is a critical question given that the majority of health informatics research thus far has focused on relatively socio-economically advantaged groups. To address this gap, I will present results from a series of community-based studies with populations that experience health disparities related to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), as well as diabetes and hypertension. Drawing from the results of these studies, I will present new conceptual frameworks that highlight community-level mediators/facilitators of health information access and use which may be amenable to intervention. These potential intervention targets include: 1) information networks and institutional capacity; 2) community involvement-based mediators of information use; 3) collective trust; and 4) patient work systems that emerge within disadvantaged community contexts. These findings provide a basis for future research focused on a novel area of health informatics practice: community-level interventions that address health disparities by intervening at the community (or “meso”) level of social organization.